Monday, March 21, 2016

This year, St. Patrick's Day fell directly on the day I have Preschool Storytime, so I wanted to plan a storytime to celebrate, but it was challenging to find books that are good read-aloud for this age group. Most of the books are appropriate for grade school children. I opted to find books that celebrate some of the aspects of St. Patrick's Day and books about things that are green, and it worked really well.

BOOKS:

Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox

Good Luck Bear by Greg Foley

The Story of the Leprechaun by Katherine Brown Tegen

Big Frog Can't Fit In by Mo Willems

RHYMES & SONGS:

Five Little Shamrocks

One green shamrock, in the morning dew,
Another one sprouted and then there were two.
Two green shamrocks, growing beneath a tree,
Another one sprouted and then there were three.
Three green shamrocks, by the cottage door,
Another one sprouted and then there were four.
Four green shamrocks, near a beehive,
Another one sprouted and then there were five.
Five little shamrocks, bright and emerald green,
Think of the all the luck these shamrocks will bring.

I used clip art images, laminated them, and glued felt on the back to make this flannel board. This is great for having the children help you place the pieces on the board.

Leprechaun, leprechaun, what do you see?
I see a black hat looking at me.
Black hat, black hat, what do you see?
I see a red ladybug...
I see an orange sun...
I see a yellow star...
I see a green leaf...
I see a blue bird...
I see a purple butterfly...

(The kids may yell out "It's a rainbow!" If not, ask them what we made on the board.)

Purple butterfly, purple butterfly, what do you see?
I see lots of children in front of me.
Children, children, what do you see?
We see a red bird, an orange sun, a yellow star, a green leaf, a blue bird, and a purple butterfly. We see a rainbow!

And what does a leprechaun hide at the end of a rainbow?
His pot of gold!

When I saw this craft here, I immediately wanted to make it, but...THE GLITTER! Youth Services Librarian know glitter + children's crafts = a big ole' mess. My mind immediately went to worst-case scenarios. But, I told my mind to hush up and decided to prep all the parts so kids weren't applying loose glitter all willy-nilly and I had some hope of containing the mess. It worked great and everyone loved their craft. Who doesn't love a little sparkle?

DeWitt Community Library

About Me

I'm the Children's Librarian at DeWitt Community Library in DeWitt, a busy suburb of Syracuse, NY. When I'm not doing storytimes, crafts, programs, or pulling glue or other sticky things out of my hair, I love to read, watch movies, travel, and try out new restaurants and food. Life is good!!